A few Thursdays ago I visited Lachine on a whim. It’s a neighbourhood I don’t go to often because it’s pretty far away, and because there are plenty of equally good neighbourhoods closer to home. I’ve only gone once before and didn’t find anything worth mentioning.
Still, Lachine is a nice place with lots of garbage potential, particularly the western section which is lined with charming 1950s suburban homes. The name Lachine has an funny story behind it. Way back in the late 1600s the area was owned by an explorer named Lasalle. He attempted to find a westward passage to China through the Great Lakes and failed miserably. He returned home only to be mocked by the locals who began referring to his land as “la chine” (China). The name stuck, at least according to lore. Don’t feel too bad for Lasalle though – there are plenty of other things named after him.
My whim paid off in a small way, as this one house produced some decent stuff that made the detour worthwhile.
The bags produced plenty of kitschy decorations and kitchenwares. I kept the old 60s Montreal mug at top left, but left the rest in a free box on the curb. Most was quickly taken by others.
Here’s more of that kitschy stuff, including a few old ashtrays and a ship in a bottle.
My favourite kitchenwares were a nice metal teapot and a Pyrex coffee pot / drink holder. They’ll make for good yard sale material.
I also found a few smaller items, including an old St Christopher medallion …
… and some scrap gold. Finding this is really what made my trip profitable – 3.2 grams of 10k gold adds up to an easy 55$.
I returned to that spot every Thursday night for the next few weeks but never saw anything on the curb. This pile, which I came across on my last trip contained a couple cool items.
This striking crucifix was inside one of the bags. It was a bit dirty but cleaned up nicely.
I also found this Catholic piece. I’m not sure what you’d call it, but it’s around 5″ tall and seems to made for the blessing of homes. The middle part says “Je benirai les maisons ou l’image de mon coeur sera exposée et honorée” (I will bless the homes where the image of my heart is exposed and honored).
These finds were interesting enough to make me consider going back to Lachine again this week. It’ll all depend on how I feel that night.
My Thursday night run also (at least for now) includes stops in Westmount, NDG, and Montreal West. It’s currently my most expansive route, and just goes to show how many different trash days I can visit at any given time. (And that’s not even the beginning – I can name a laundry list of other neighbourhoods that put their trash out at the same time).
I came across this radio in Montreal West, an affluent community west of NDG. I expect the previous owner was hoping someone would take it home.
The radio is actually pretty sweet. It’s a beautiful old Grundig Satellit 6000 that picks up AM, FM, long wave and short wave. It’s in pretty good shape and sounds terrific. The only issue is that the FM tuner doesn’t seem to work, which might be an easy enough fix. If so, I should be able to sell it for a decent amount. This one, albeit in slightly better cosmetic condition sold for 265$ + shipping on eBay.
I have two other spots on that route that have been producing great stuff of late. I’ll share that with you sometime in the near future.
I’ll take the crucifix, the St. Christopher, and the Sacred Heart house emblem if you are selling them. 🙂
Sure, are you in Montreal? Send me an email or Facebook message and maybe we can work something out.
I thoroughly enjoyed the Lachine name origin story. These are the kinds of bits and pieces that make your blog a cut above. 🙂
Grundigs seem to have tuning knob issues https://groups.google.com/forum/#!topic/rec.radio.shortwave/dlhix9rvzZM
No, the Grundig Martin found is much older, with analog tuning. If there is a dial problem there, it would be a matter of getting new string, and restringing it.
The link is for a much more recent model, the 800. It’s digitally tuned, and uses a very different tuning method. And the particular thing used in the 800 has been prone to problems. I have both a Grundig Satellit 500 and 700, which are digitally tuned, but which don’t suffer the problem of the 800.
Michael
Wow! That Grundig Shortwave is a major, major score! I wouldn’t sweat the FM band not working. Collectors are more interested in the Shortwave bands functioning. Congrats on an awesome find! …Dude!
It is, it’s the sort of thing I wish I’d found, even though I do pretty well. I got a Panasonic multi-band at a garage sale in June for five dollars, their entry in the solid state Transoceanic-type portables. Incredibly heavy, I found it at the first garage sale of the day and lugged it around for hours.
I would argue that collectors want a full functioning radio. The radio is old, and you can buy a much better radio for a hundred or so today, digital tuning and better selectivity. A collector wants an old radio because of what it represents. They want to be able to show it off; if the wanted the function, they’d use a newer radio. Some old radios have good FM receivers, they’d want to show it off if this is one. I’ll bring home anything, but then I either find it in the garbage, or buy cheap at garage sales, so imperfection doesn’t matter. But if I decided to spend real money, I would expect it to work. (Or looked at another way, one reason I won’t spend much is because I have no guarantee of it working fully.)
Someone could fix it, but then they’d expect a lower price. The good thing is, the radio mostly works, so either it’s simple like the bandswitch needs cleaning, or the FM front end is bad, a relatively small segment of the circuitry.
I paid $40 for my Grundig Satellite 500 almost a decade ago, but it was non-profit fundraiser and the first time I saw a shortwave radio at such sales, so I just offered a “high” amount. Two years later, I bought a Grundig Satellit 700 for $2.00 at a Rotary Club sale, their price. The analog portables that followed have all been under ten dollars. I found a Sony 2001 in pieces in the garbage, and three years go got a TMC GPR-90 tube shortwave receiver for $20. The latter likely would have landed in the garbage had I not passed by.
So some of what people are willing to spend depends on what they’ve already spent.
Michael
the nice silver art-deco\50’s? shiny pour-ball goes on any booze bottle,some are even specifically calibrated to give you the same pour every time,cool bar implement,pat.
if you’re ever in lachine again & hungry,dude,check out Mommy’s fish & chips!! Bloody excellent! Iconic (goes back a ways) i’d almost recommend building up an appetite (not diet food,really good on an autumn day) & then going to ‘nosh by the river checkin’ out all the sculptures & public art,a simple,affordable pleasure still,only one of the founding brothers left (getting’ grey) ,scottish wonderfulness man,enjoy while you still can.joe 😉
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